Love Jihad in 2014, staid silence now: Zee News’ narrative around the Meerut ‘gang rape’

“This is what I wanted. I am happy to be with the person I love.” These are the words of Shalu as reported in The Hindu. The 22-year-old-girl Hindu girl from Meerut and her Muslim spouse, Kaleem, were the victims of the wrath of the Hindutva Right-wing brigade in August, 2014. Shalu has stated now that she was forced to register a false complaint of gang rape and conversion against Kaleem, who was her boyfriend then, by her father at the behest of Hindutva Right-Wing groups.

It was one of the most publicised cases of “Love Jihad” — the theory that Muslim men lure Hindu girls and marry them with the ultimate aim of converting them to spread Islam. The theory, in this case at least, fell flat with the couple coming out openly to state that Love Jihad does not exist.

When the story of Shalu, who was initially labelled as “Meerut gang rape victim”, first appeared, most TV channels went to town reporting on the alleged act of Love Jihad. Interestingly, the zeal with which sensational details of the so-called crime was reported is missing now when the girl has come out and married her alleged tormentor. Notable among these channels is Zee News that reported on Love Jihad in its trademark melodramatic style last year, but has not carried a single report on Shalu marrying Kaleem this year. (I searched four hours on YouTube and Google but could not find a single report by Zee News on Kaleem marrying Shalu).

In such cases, where the life and reputation of individuals concerned is hanging by a thread, is it not the moral prerogative of a news channel to report the story to its logical conclusion? Kaleem was painted as a Love Jihadi and a rapist. If it comes to light now that these charges were completely baseless, shouldn’t Zee News have carried a report detailing so?

I spoke to Mohammad Ali, the reporter from The Hindu who has extensively tracked the story of Shalu and Kaleem. Ali was of the view that many of the Hindi newspapers and channels made up baseless stories of Love Jihad without any evidence. This, he says, made the couple very suspicious of the media in general and the Hindi media in particular. In fact, initially, Kaleem was not even willing to talk to Ali. It took a lot of convincing on part of Ali to get Kaleem talking, being accompanied by a local journalist in an Urdu newspaper called Shah Times helped.

Investigation or propaganda?

Image: Rohit Sardana hosting the show, ‘Love Jihad: Exposed’

The above picture is a thumbnail of a video titled “Zee Exclusive Survey: Love Jihad Exposed!” uploaded on YouTube on August 27, 2014, by Zee News. Observe the image. A silhouette of a couple holding hands facing a mammoth structure that is distinctly Islamic in its style. Does it not symbolise cultural highjacking of the Hindus through Love Jihad? Notice the enlarged X in the “Exposed”.

The video moves back and forth between Rohit Sardana’s commentary, over-the-top narration, footage of the “perpetrators” and their “victims” speaking in front of the camera — all of which is accompanied by flashy titles. In its entire coverage, it does not once name or even show the entire face of the so-called perpetrators. The victims are not named either, which is understandable, but Zee does not even bother with giving us a background of the victim.

One frame shows close-ups of the lips of a Muslim man outside a college somewhere in Western Uttar Pradesh as he talks about going after Hindu women since they are not as conservative as Muslim women.

The same man professes to using a Hindu name to lure Hindu women right at the outset. He is shown smiling, pursing his lower lip – he is the perfect caricature of a Love Jihadi.

The report does not tell us who this man is, where he lives, his age, name or any detail that makes him believable. Even if Zee News wanted to protect his identity, it could have informed its viewers by presenting a background to the man without giving out exact details. This “Love Jihadi” could be a paid actor for all we know.

The camera movements and the use of dramatic background music seems to show that this was an attempt by Zee to perpetuate the phenomenon of Love Jihad, rather than investigate it. It represents the mindset that Muslims are potential sexual predators who keep four wives and produce five children from each one of them to achieve the twin objective of satiating their sexual appetite and spreading their religion.

One of the “victims” from the city of Saharanpur is shown talking about how Love Jihad is an orchestrated conspiracy on many levels to ensure that a Hindu girl is tricked into marrying a Muslim.

A 16-year-old-girl whose face is covered, with only her eyes visible, is shown stating how she was befriended by a girl claiming to be a Hindu by the name of Avni Tyagi, whose actual name was Reshma. She alleges that while they were in Standard 9, Reshma befriended her and eventually performed black magic to ensure that she stops taking part in Hindu festivities and becomes close to Reshma’s family and adopts Muslim customs and traditions.

In the process, the girl claims to have lost all agency and was just about to get married to Reshma’s brother when her family members figured out what was going on and decided to take her to an astrologer. After getting treated for a month, she claims to have been healed. It is not just the Muslim male who is at work, but also his family that includes his sister who is probably less than 18 years of age. The danger is posed not just by the Muslim man, but from the entire community.

This particular video has more than 170, 000 views, 1,540 “likes” and only 315 “dislikes”. The most liked comment is: “maa chod do mulloon ki [fuck the mothers of Muslims]”.

The problem is not so much that Zee News presented a warped view of Muslims, but that its report is not supported by authentic evidence and instead relies on testimonies that give weight to the practice of black magic and astrology.

Even if Love Jihad has any element of truth, is it not the duty of a news channel to investigate the matter and present both sides of the story instead of passing of a soap opera as news? Finally, if the report came after the allegations of Shalu’s gang rape and conversion and now that she has come out and said that all the allegations of “Love Jihad” were incorrect, should Zee not have revisited the story of Love Jihad and its own report?